A variety of air data measurement devices are known in the art for aircraft flight control. Of such devices, many are directed to measuring pitot pressure, static pressure, local angle of attack pressures, and angle of sideslip pressures as parameters for calculating pressure altitude, altitude rate, airspeed, Mach number, angle of attack, and angle of sideslip. These devices can also provide data for secondary purposes including engine control, artificial feel, cabin pressure differential, and more.
One such air data measurement device is a flush static plate which is used to sense the atmospheric pressure outside of the aircraft. Static pressure is an important parameter that is utilized in aircraft for numerous purposes including the determination of altitude, altitude rate, airspeed and airspeed rate, which last-mentioned parameters are, in turn, used as inputs to various other devices such as flight management systems, autopilots, ground proximity warning systems and wind shear detectors. The standard atmospheric pressure sensed by the static ports is used to generate altitude indicative signals which are provided, typically by the air data computer, to an altimeter in the cockpit of the aircraft. Pressures sensed by several static ports at different locations on an aircraft may also be used to calculate angle of attack, angle of sideslip, and total pressure therefore allowing for an all-flush air data system.
Air data systems comprised of conventional air data static plates, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, typically consist of several sets of co-located simplex static plates (FIG. 1) or several sets of static plates having multiple static port patterns (FIG. 2). However, multiple co-located static plates create an unnecessarily complex aircraft installation. With regards to static plates having multiple static port patterns, they typically require large, expensive static plates since the port patterns are spaced apart (e.g., 1 to 14 inches) in linear or circular arrangements. Additionally, static plates configured to have small distances between static port patterns are difficult to heat adequately since nearly all of the volume near the center of the static plate is consumed by static ports and their associated moisture traps. Still further, it is difficult to package related electronics and sensors with closely spaced static port patterns. It is also to be appreciated that with either the aforesaid co-located simplex static plates (FIG. 1) or several sets of static plates having multiple static port patterns (FIG. 2), measured air pressure at each port pattern varies one from another compromising the accuracy of the static pressure measuring system while increasing the difficulty in determining a failure from a static port pattern.